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This is one of the most important freedoms that we have. The freedom of speech isn't just about the creator being able to speak freely, but also about his audience being able to partake. Those who advocate censorship are those who fear a free marketplace of ideas, because they know their ideas cannot gain traction, and thus must attack the competition to have any hope of succeeding. Those people must be shown that to do so is unacceptable and un-American.

So go read a banned book, and give Sarah the finger.

Edit: For those interested, here are the ten most challenged books (thankfully, thanks to the resolve of librarians, few challenges succeed.)

I read both Palin articles, there is no evidence in them that she intended to or attempted to ban any books. The first article acknowledges that there is no such evidence, the second just seems to indicate that some old guy "knew" she wanted his book banned even though there is no record of anything to that effect.

EDIT: Anyway, to the larger issue at hand, it seems that sexually explicit material available to children is the issue here. Should Playboy be in public schools too?

The Golden Compass wasn't given any attention until after the film. And compared to the third book it doesn't even have any anti-religious sentiment in it other than "The Church is the bad guys" which isn't exactly original for fantasy.

She asked her her stance on censorship and then tried to have the librarian fired for not supporting her administration .

WASILLA -- Back in 1996, when she first became mayor, Sarah Palin asked the city librarian if she would be all right with censoring library books should she be asked to do so.

According to news coverage at the time, the librarian said she would definitely not be all right with it. A few months later, the librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, got a letter from Palin telling her she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for the firing. The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn't fully support her and had to go.

Emmons had been city librarian for seven years and was well liked. After a wave of public support for her, Palin relented and let Emmons keep her job.

In December 1996, Emmons told her hometown newspaper, the Frontiersman, that Palin three times asked her -- starting before she was sworn in -- about possibly removing objectionable books from the library if the need arose.

Emmons told the Frontiersman she flatly refused to consider any kind of censorship. Emmons, now Mary Ellen Baker, is on vacation from her current job in Fairbanks and did not return e-mail or telephone messages left for her Wednesday.

When the matter came up for the second time in October 1996, during a City Council meeting, Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla housewife who often attends council meetings, was there.

Like many Alaskans, Kilkenny calls the governor by her first name.

"Sarah said to Mary Ellen, 'What would your response be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?" Kilkenny said.

"I was shocked. Mary Ellen sat up straight and said something along the line of, 'The books in the Wasilla Library collection were selected on the basis of national selection criteria for libraries of this size, and I would absolutely resist all efforts to ban books.'"

It's hardly support (er... if I remember correctly, it's been a while since I read it), but point taken.

Found a page on the ALA here which actually gives reasons for various books getting banned. It's almost depressing that it looks like OMAM gets banned more often for vulgar language than anything else.

EDIT: Anyway, to the larger issue at hand, it seems that sexually explicit material available to children is the issue here. Should Playboy be in public schools too?

There's a wee bit of a difference between public schools and public libraries.

There's also the issue of who, exactly, gets to define what's "sexually explicit", especially when dealing with YA books.

And finally, if you're so worked up about "sexually explicit" books being available to children, why not set up an effective way to restrict access to that material based on age, rather than removing it from the shelves entirely?

She asked her her stance on censorship and she said no and that was that.

So, you interested in a bridge? I can sell it to you cheap.

Seriously, when you look at the shit she pulled, just saying "no" when asked about censorship isn't enough.

Just so we're clear: you just know she wanted to ban some books, and the total lack of evidence only makes me naive to your truth.

You don't just ask "How do I ban a book" because you're curious. Then there's her background, most notably that she belongs to a church known for actually having book burnings. And there's the fact that she dismissed said librarian that stood up to her (though to be fair, that may just be part of her not liking anyone who opposes her.)

Seriously, if you're not seeing the evidence that she would have banned books if she thought she would get away with it, you've got the blinders on tight.

The list in the OP is most challenged. The ALA is pretty resolute on opposing bannings, so it takes a LOT to get one through. Most advocates of bannings don't have the hard support needed to make it stick.

The one book perennially on this list that confuses me is Huck Finn. The kind of people that get their panties in a bunch about banning books doesn't seem like it would overlap much with the group of people that are bothered by racism.

werehippy on September 2008

0

TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular

The one book on perennially on this list that confuses me is Huck Finn. The kind of people that get their panties in a bunch about banning books doesn't seem like it would overlap much with the group of people that are bothered by racism.

She asked her her stance on censorship and then tried to have the librarian fired for not supporting her administration .

WASILLA -- Back in 1996, when she first became mayor, Sarah Palin asked the city librarian if she would be all right with censoring library books should she be asked to do so.

According to news coverage at the time, the librarian said she would definitely not be all right with it. A few months later, the librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, got a letter from Palin telling her she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for the firing. The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn't fully support her and had to go.

Emmons had been city librarian for seven years and was well liked. After a wave of public support for her, Palin relented and let Emmons keep her job.

In December 1996, Emmons told her hometown newspaper, the Frontiersman, that Palin three times asked her -- starting before she was sworn in -- about possibly removing objectionable books from the library if the need arose.

Emmons told the Frontiersman she flatly refused to consider any kind of censorship. Emmons, now Mary Ellen Baker, is on vacation from her current job in Fairbanks and did not return e-mail or telephone messages left for her Wednesday.

When the matter came up for the second time in October 1996, during a City Council meeting, Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla housewife who often attends council meetings, was there.

Like many Alaskans, Kilkenny calls the governor by her first name.

"Sarah said to Mary Ellen, 'What would your response be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?" Kilkenny said.

"I was shocked. Mary Ellen sat up straight and said something along the line of, 'The books in the Wasilla Library collection were selected on the basis of national selection criteria for libraries of this size, and I would absolutely resist all efforts to ban books.'"

The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman posted on the internet its original December 18, 1996, coverage September 6 â€œto accommodate numerous requests for the story from media worldwide and curious individuals,â€ with a caveat to readers: â€œPlease note that not at any time were any books ever banned from the Wasilla city library.â€ Bloggers then began asking for a list of books that Palin wanted banned. A bogus list soon surfaced on the internet but it included books not yet published in 1996, and has been discredited at snopes.com and elsewhere.

Also, she asked a ton of officials to resign. The article makes a dubious link between a phone call and a letter months later.

Yar on September 2008

0

FeralThat's what I do. I drink, and I know things.Registered Userregular

A few years ago, the Pennsylvania state chapter of the NAACP tried to get Huck Finn pulled from school curricula because they didn't think that kids should be exposed to so many uses of the n-word.

I want to say that's just stupid, but that's my reaction to pretty much all attempts to ban books.

Well, I don't like the conflation of four different acts under the single umbrella of "banning." There's the government banning a book from private citizens, then there's the forced removal of a book from public libraries, then there's the forced removal of a book from public school libraries, and then there's the removal of a book from school curricula. The first two are clearly censorship, the third might be censorship, but the fourth really isn't. Not all books are equally appropriate for kids; I think that statement is uncontroversial (although I think Huck Finn is perfectly fine for middle school and above). The NAACP made the argument that kids don't have the maturity to deal with the way racism is portrayed in Huck Finn and became afraid that if kids were exposed to the n-word in school, by a teacher, they may feel that it's okay to use that word in casual parlance.

I don't agree with the argument, as I don't see Huck Finn as being particularly complex, but I don't think the argument is beyond the pale, and I don't think it's fair to refer to an attempt to remove a book from school curricula as "banning."

Now, if my memory is off and the NAACP tried to get it removed from a public library, well fuck them right in the ass. I just think that the criteria for having a book in a library is and should be different from the criteria for teaching a book at any given grade level of school.

Schools? No. Libraries? It should be considered on its merits, ignoring the supposedly objectionable content. So if other periodicals with similar readership are in, then yes.

Playboy is actually a good example.

Playboy in particular is a major journalistic publication in addition to the soft-core nakedness. I know it's a cliche to say "I read it for the articles," but Playboy does have substantial articles. Their interviews with celebrities and politicians can be an important source for all kinds of research. I occasionally cited Playboy in college when I'd write a paper tracking one social trend or another.

Losing that historical record because a child might see a woman's bare pelvis is the height of insanity. It might not belong in schools, but it definitely belongs in libraries.

She asked her her stance on censorship and then tried to have the librarian fired for not supporting her administration .

WASILLA -- Back in 1996, when she first became mayor, Sarah Palin asked the city librarian if she would be all right with censoring library books should she be asked to do so.

According to news coverage at the time, the librarian said she would definitely not be all right with it. A few months later, the librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, got a letter from Palin telling her she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for the firing. The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn't fully support her and had to go.

Emmons had been city librarian for seven years and was well liked. After a wave of public support for her, Palin relented and let Emmons keep her job.

In December 1996, Emmons told her hometown newspaper, the Frontiersman, that Palin three times asked her -- starting before she was sworn in -- about possibly removing objectionable books from the library if the need arose.

Emmons told the Frontiersman she flatly refused to consider any kind of censorship. Emmons, now Mary Ellen Baker, is on vacation from her current job in Fairbanks and did not return e-mail or telephone messages left for her Wednesday.

When the matter came up for the second time in October 1996, during a City Council meeting, Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla housewife who often attends council meetings, was there.

Like many Alaskans, Kilkenny calls the governor by her first name.

"Sarah said to Mary Ellen, 'What would your response be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?" Kilkenny said.

"I was shocked. Mary Ellen sat up straight and said something along the line of, 'The books in the Wasilla Library collection were selected on the basis of national selection criteria for libraries of this size, and I would absolutely resist all efforts to ban books.'"

The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman posted on the internet its original December 18, 1996, coverage September 6 â€œto accommodate numerous requests for the story from media worldwide and curious individuals,â€ with a caveat to readers: â€œPlease note that not at any time were any books ever banned from the Wasilla city library.â€ Bloggers then began asking for a list of books that Palin wanted banned. A bogus list soon surfaced on the internet but it included books not yet published in 1996, and has been discredited at snopes.com and elsewhere.

Also, she asked a ton of officials to resign. The article makes a dubious link between a phone call and a letter months later.

The question regarded wanting to ban books not successfully banning books and you must have missed the three times above

A few years ago, the Pennsylvania state chapter of the NAACP tried to get Huck Finn pulled from school curricula because they didn't think that kids should be exposed to so many uses of the n-word.

I want to say that's just stupid, but that's my reaction to pretty much all attempts to ban books.

Well, I don't like the conflation of four different acts under the single umbrella of "banning." There's the government banning a book from private citizens, then there's the forced removal of a book from public libraries, then there's the forced removal of a book from public school libraries, and then there's the removal of a book from school curricula. The first two are clearly censorship, the third might be censorship, but the fourth really isn't.

<supporting details>

Hence my use of the waffle "pretty much." I think baring pretty gross mismatches in age/material attempts to somehow shield children are on the face of it idiotic, though I'll allow there's certainly more room for debate there than with other types of book banning.

The one book on perennially on this list that confuses me is Huck Finn. The kind of people that get their panties in a bunch about banning books doesn't seem like it would overlap much with the group of people that are bothered by racism.

Truth.

Well, you have the reactionary Left, the PC alarmists; and the reactionary Right, those morons who think their religion (and, by extension, the American Family) is under attack by the evil forces of secularism. My grandpa used to say, if two people go far enough to the left and right, they'll always meet at the back.

I read both Palin articles, there is no evidence in them that she intended to or attempted to ban any books. The first article acknowledges that there is no such evidence, the second just seems to indicate that some old guy "knew" she wanted his book banned even though there is no record of anything to that effect.

EDIT: Anyway, to the larger issue at hand, it seems that sexually explicit material available to children is the issue here. Should Playboy be in public schools too?

Are you comparing the likes of Kurt Vonnegut to playboy?

SkyGheNe on September 2008

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FeralThat's what I do. I drink, and I know things.Registered Userregular

Hence my use of the waffle "pretty much." I think baring pretty gross mismatches in age/material attempts to somehow shield children are on the face of it idiotic, though I'll allow there's certainly more room for debate there than with other types of book banning.

Yeah. The other thing is that books taught in schools were picked by people who, well, have degrees in education. They generally have a pretty good idea of what's appropriate for what age group. So when concerned parents or clergy or pundits throw a fit, they usually clearly have no clue what the hell they're talking about.

The Color Purple may have been a bad idea for my sophomore/junior summer reading list, though. A number of students in my class demonstrated that they weren't mature enough to handle it.